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@ 0 Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

L. G. STALNAKER.

FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTBR.

No. 333,263. Patented Dec. 29, 1885.

Hm d] WITNESSES JJVVE-l T0. wag}? I 5% 0 M Attorney N. PETERS,Pholuiflhognpher. Wnhingion DZC.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

L; C. STALNA-KER.

FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTER. N0. 333,263. Patented Dec. 29, 1885.

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LLOYD G. STALNAK-ER, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

FERTILIZER-DISTRIBUTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,263, dated December29, 1885.

Application filed May 18, 1885. Serial No. 165,890. 1N0 model.)

To aZZ w/wm it may concern:

Be it known that I, LLOYD O. STALNAKER, acitizen of the United States,residing at York, in the county of York and State of Pennsyl- Vania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFertilizer-Distributors, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

This invention relates to machinery for use in sowing or distributingfertilizing material of the usual sorts, and has special reference tothe feeding device for ejecting the material from the hopper or box. Inthis class of agricultural machinery the actual outlet or dis charge.has heretofore been both lateral and central, and it is in this latterform of machine my invention resides.

The invention consists in a feeder having a stationary throat, formingthe discharge-orifice, in connection with the usual boot, a stationarybottom for the hopper or box, a rotary toothed feeding-cup arrangedwholly below such bottom, and having the throat for its bearing, and ascraper and regulator, constructed and arranged as hereinafter moreparticularly set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like partsare similarly designated, Figure 1 is a top plan View of my feeder; Fig.2, a similar view with the top plate removed; Fig. 3, a vertical sectionin the plane of line 00 m, Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a similar section in theplane of line 3 y, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a similar view in the plane of linea a, Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the scraper orregulator, detached and on a larger scale.

The frame, box or hopper, boots, and other fixtures (not shown) may beas in any of the approved fertilizerdistributors, or combineddistributers and drills or seeders or attachments therefor. The plate aforms the bottom of the hopper or box, and is provided with asemicircular opening, b, having the downturned lip c, and the scraper d,the latter intersecting the lip diametrically.

e is the throat, provided with the collar f, and closed at the top by acover, 9, having the braces h, which engage the walls of the hopper,said cover having an observationgate, z, movable, to permit a view ofthe inside of the throat and its appurtenances to inspect the operationof feeding, and for other purposes. This throat is supported by thedriving-shaft j, which extends through it, and is bushed therein by thehubs of the pinions k Z,

the former being fast on the shaft, and the latter being an idler heldin place in any suitav f below the bottom plate, a, and provided with atoothed annular flange, n, depending from its bottom, with which thepinions k l engage, the former to rotate the cupm, (so hereinafterdesignated,) and also incidentally to support it, and the latter servingsolely as a support for said cup, so that said cup may be freely rotatedaround the throat e, as upon a fixed journal. To a horizontal portion,0, of the cup is secured in any suitable manner, as by screws or lugsand slots, an annulus, p, having projecting from its internal edge,horizontally, a number of feeder-teeth, q, the active faces or edges ofwhich are beveled, said vteeth serving asstirrers or feeders to carrydown the fertilizer through the opening I; in the bottom a into the cupm, and aid in discharging it into the throat. The scraper d .co-operateswith the upper surface of the teeth q to keep them clean, as indicatedin Fig. 5.

A rail or guide-bar, r, is secured horizontally.

in the throat 6, about on alevel with the lower end of its collar, andupon this rail is mounted, to slide back and forth through the openinge, a scraper, s, to regulate the quantity offertilizer discharged, andto keep the cup and under side of the teeth'from choking or becomingclogged. This scraper in detail is composed of the flanges s s, toengage the rail 1" within the throat e, the segmental finger s, adaptedto be projected more or less out into the cup m, through the opening 0in the throat, and having the vertical face 8 to meet the fertilizer asit is carried around by the teeth (1 and cup, and deflect it intothethroat through the opening e in greater or less quantity, accordingto the extent of the projection of said scraper into said cup,and thepost 8, provided with means to engage an operating lever or bar, t,passing through the upper end of the throat. It will be understood thatthese feeders may be applied in any number to the machine, and that theshaft 7' will serve to operate the Whole series, and the bar or lever twill be connected to all of the scrapers; adjacent surfaces of the lip cand the ring 11 are matched so as to form as close a joint as possible,to prevent the sifting of the fertilizerbetween them. The bottom a alsomakes a tight or close joint with the throat, so as to restrict thedescent of the material to the opening b, and the collar f so covers thebearing of the rotary cup upon the throat as to make a tight jointthere. 7

It will be noticed that with my construction the feed is from theoutsideinward, the active members (teeth q) being arranged upon theborder of the material, rather than within it, and acting upon it fromwithout. This is advantageous for many reasons, but chiefly because themachinery has to rotate or move a less superposed mass, and hence thedraft is not so heavy, and there is less strain upon the: moving parts.7 a

What I claim is 1. In a fertilizer distributer, a feeding devicecomprising an annulus having internallyprojecting teeth to act upon themass from its outside, substantially as described.

2. In a fertilizer-distributer, a feeding device comprising an annulushaving internallyprojecting teeth to act upon the mass from its outside,and a rotary cup to which it is attached, substantially as described.

3. In a fertilizer-distributer, a feeding device comprising an annulushaving internallyprojceting teeth to act upon the mass from its outside,acup to which it is attached, and acentral throat encircled by said cupand annulus, and having a lateral inlet from the cup, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a fertilizerdistributer, a throat provided with a lateral inlet, afeeder cup, and

toothed annulus encircling it, a driving-shaft passed through andsupporting such throat and geared with the cup to rotate it about thethroat, and means to control the quantity of material discharged fromsaid cup into said throat, substantially as described.

5. A feeder having feeding devices, and a shaft and pinions to operatethem, said shaft and pinions also serving to support the said feedingdevices, substantially as described.

The

6. The stationary throat, and rotary feeding devices encircling the sameand utilizing said them, substantially as described.

7. The plate a, forming the bottom of the hopper or box, and having theopening b, lip c,'and scraper d, combined with the feeding mechanismarranged beneath said plate and in close contact therewith,substantially as described.

8. In a fertilizenfeeder having a dischargethroat, a surrounding cup tocontain the material to be fed, and a feeding device, the scraperarranged within the dischargethroat, and having the finger s, andadapted to be moved back and forth, as required, to vary the quantityfed, substantially as described.

9. In a fertilizer-feeder, the discharge-throat provided with a coverand lateral braces secured to the hopper-walls to stay the upper end ofthe throat, substantially as described.

' 10. Inafertilizer-distributer, the dischargethroat provided with acover, and an observation-door set in said cover to permit inspection ofthe progress of the feeding operation, substantially asdescribed.

11. The discharge-throat having a lateral opening, and a movable scraperadapted to be projected more or less out through said opening, combinedwith a surrounding feed-cup into which said scraper enters, and means tofeed the material to be distributed into said cup, substantially asdescribed.

12. Ina fertilizer distributer, a central throat supported by thedrive-shaft and stayed above, and having an external collar, a cupencircling said throat and having a bearing upon it and up against thelower edge of its collar, and rotated from and supported by thedrive-shaft, a dentated feeding-annulus borne by the said cup, aregulator or scraper to control the quantity discharged from the cupinto the throat, and a bottom plate superposed upon the cup and having abearing upon the upper edge of the collar, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of May,A. D. 1885.

LLOYD G. STALNAKER.

Witnesses:

A. P. MOINTRUFF, EDWD. LEA.

